In an effort to curtail exhaust gas emissions on diesel vehicles and rehabilitate the image of diesel fuel as a cleaner, longer-range alternative to petrol, Mercedes-Benz has committed to invest a lofty $3.3 US Dollars (or about 4.56 billion AUD) in a new family of engines and other technologies to further improve efficiency.
These new powerplants will not only meet or exceed the current global standards but will pre-empt the arrival of even stricter regulations and is meant to conform to them as well. The first of these are already in their production cars, namely the OM 654 engine in the new E220d.
Being designed as a modular unit, Mercedes-Benz has big plans for this line of diesels, saying it win span their entire fleet of vehicles, suitable for front, rear or all-wheel drive, able to fit into both their passenger and commercial vehicles.
Mercedes-Benz will also make more advanced particulate filters the standard in their new breed of cleaner combustion vehicles and will be one of the first to add them to petrol engines as well.
Additionally, all these engines will feature advanced engine technology centred around a more efficient and cleaner combustion outputs. Features such as exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR), cylinder deactivation, idle-stop-start could all be standard fit instead of reserved as a premium.
On the subject, Dr. Thomas Weber, Daimler Board of Management Member for Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development, said: “Our customers’ trust is very important to us and we take our responsibility to the environment very seriously. That’s why we decided five years ago to invest massively in the further development of diesel technology,”
But we are also continuously making our gasoline engines more efficient and more environment-friendly; because high-tech combustion engines will remain the backbone of individual mobility until the widespread market success of electric vehicles. For this reason, we are investing a total of about three billion euros to ensure further improvements in fuel consumption and emissions – in both future and current vehicles.”
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